When do you use Technic panels?

[Andy D]

When do you use Technic panels?

1. Only for models that have a "real life" counterpart (planes, trains, automobiles, trucks, tanks, etc)?

2. Anytime, maybe to conceal construction details.

Or maybe you purposely leave panels off to show the construction details.

Note to Mods: This may belong in the Technic general discussion, if so,feel free to move.

Andy D

[Zerobricks]

Hmm, there is no rule... I tend to add them to fill up gaps...

But I learned that building the body and the chassis as standalone modules tends to get best results for me...

Sometimes a model looks better withput and sometimes with panels, it totally depends on the style you are after...

But generaly I try to use panels as often as possible because they smoothen the lines.

[Erik Leppen]

When do you use Technic panels?

When they are the best fit to what I want :)

I really think it's that simple :P

[Lipko]

Whenever they look cool. And usually they look cool (for example I used them for insect models too).

[efferman]

Sometimes for the look, sometimes for structural needs.

[Samer]

But I learned that building the body and the chassis as standalone modules tends to get best results for me...

This statement led me to 2 questions:

1- Is it even better to try to make several modules that are easily connected and separated, or is that less possible for most builds?

2- from expert perspective, is there a known order to building a vehicle?, I assume the modules are:

• base chasis
  
• grear box
  
• drive
  
• steering
  
• other mechanical functions
  
• upper chasis
  
• body
  

[Lipko]

Modularity make designing easier and harder at the same time. Changing/improving/rebuilding the models is much easier if the model is modular, but modular design can take up a little more space (because of the interfaces between the parts). Or I'm just not experienced enough.

[dr_spock]

I use them here and there. Some times I experiment with them in other themes as I have a bag full of them.

Day 044 of 365: Technic Compactor by dr_spock_888, on Flickr

swoosh by dr_spock_888, on Flickr

[Samer]

Modularity make designing easier and harder at the same time. Changing/improving/rebuilding the models is much easier if the model is modular, but modular design can take up a little more space (because of the interfaces between the parts). Or I'm just not experienced enough.

Thanks for answering, I asked this because I had an idea and started building, I built the gear box and the drive then the rear chassis. Then I jumped to the front face and now I have tough time linking the front chassis to the rear while making the structure solid. I knew I put myself into trouble :-)

[Lipko]

Thanks for answering, I asked this because I had an idea and started building, I built the gear box and the drive then the rear chassis. Then I jumped to the front face and now I have tough time linking the front chassis to the rear while making the structure solid. I knew I put myself into trouble :-)

Maybe you should post some pictures. In my last build, I also had trouble linking the front and the rear axes (both was built with the "new" hubs). The problem was that the front suspension is naturally 5 studs high while the rear is 3. Then I realized that I just need to use the older hubs for the front from the 8070 supercar which has 3-stud high suspension, and after that it's was a breeze to build a solid chassis.

Maybe the problem is similar to yours.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Lipko

[knotian]

This discussion should be expanded. I'm just returning from the 'dark ages' and the engineering and construction that goes into some of the larger kits is so fantastic (IMHO) that I find it discouraging to see it hidden by panels. Of course when the object is a scale model the panels are necessary to capture the design of the exterior. I tend to leave the panels off except where structurally necessary. The intricacy of the models is what I like to see.

[Samer]

Maybe you should post some pictures. In my last build, I also had trouble linking the front and the rear axes (both was built with the "new" hubs). The problem was that the front suspension is naturally 5 studs high while the rear is 3. Then I realized that I just need to use the older hubs for the front from the 8070 supercar which has 3-stud high suspension, and after that it's was a breeze to build a solid chassis.

Maybe the problem is similar to yours.

not at all the same, my build is a beginner one. Suspension is not even something I know how to do yet :-)

Its also a bus not a car

[Erik Leppen]

Modularity make designing easier and harder at the same time.

As for modularity, I often try to build things up modularly, but in the end it usually becomes one big intertwined spaghetti of beams and axles without any sense of modules, because that's usually the only way I can get everything to work, be rigid, and look decent. I toyed with this for my [TC7] Enforcer, where the weaponry was a separate module, but there was a beam and an axle from another part that lined up so well that it looked foolish not to connect the two, even though it means losing the modularity. Or with mobile cranes, when I try to build the two outrigger units identicaly, but they always end up being different, because they're in different circumstances, e.g. the front one needs a drive axle to pass through or has a structural role where the rear one doesn't.

2- from expert perspective, is there a known order to building a vehicle?, I assume the modules are:

I don't know about expert perspective, but in my perspective it's often good to do the hard bits first. I'm planning to build a car that has a separate gearbox similar to 8070 to operate the doors via a motor, so I'm inclined to make that section fit in first, before I can add the axles with suspension. Also, when I build cars I often add the seats relatively early in the build, because it helps me get the proportions better. But I'm sure that this is very different for other people.

Sometimes for the look, sometimes for structural needs.

I find that for structural needs, the 5x11 panels are sometimes really useful, but to be honest I rarely use panels for structural needs.

I mostly use them because they're a nice way to make rounded shapes.

[Samer]

I don't know about expert perspective

Thanks for the reply, I just meant someone who built a lot. I agree about the seats idea. In my bus I'm now working on the driver's seat. from my noob perspective ( ) 5x11 seems good for changing connection direction.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Samer

[Andy D]

Kind of what I figured, everyone has their own reasons when to use,when to not use.

Me, I am like others... I will use them to make things look good (or right) and not when I feel they are not needed.

I really hadn't considered the added strength,but I will keep that in mind.

[Lipko]

I don't know about expert perspective, but in my perspective it's often good to do the hard bits first. I'm planning to build a car that has a separate gearbox similar to 8070 to operate the doors via a motor, so I'm inclined to make that section fit in first, before I can add the axles with suspension. Also, when I build cars I often add the seats relatively early in the build, because it helps me get the proportions better. But I'm sure that this is very different for other people.

I usually do the same. And it's advised to start with the hard and/or conceptually new parts, because they might be bigger than expected or not work at all, and you have to throw away the whole idea.

[Paul Boratko]

I use them when I come up with an intersting way to incorporate them first.. Like "From this angle it would make a cool headlight" or "This side of the panel would look cool and flow in the back" or "These 2 panles together look like an ear"

[stigge72]

Most often I use them when I can make good use of their shape.

Recently I had an idea to use some older ones to keep a couple of modules together, but later opted to use a few other parts.